Echo frequently can't find a device or group Hue bulbs

[jeffmikers]

I've googled the heck out of my problem and keep finding posts related to people having problems initially discovering a Hue bridge or bulbs. Not me.

I've got a total of 11 Hue bulbs throughout my house and for the most part, things generally work. However on any annoyingly frequent basis, Echo will be unable to "find a device or group named <Device>". I can immediately launch the Hue app to turn on/off the bulb in question, so I know the Hue bridge is up with network connectivity.

My setup at home is fairly robust. I have 2 Ubiquiti Unifi access points for my wifi, both of which are on a UPS. I have almost ZERO network related issues in my home.

I'm considering buying a WeMo switch to reboot my Hue bridge on a nightly basis, but that's just treating a symptom instead of the problem.

Any thoughts? I love the Hue integration with Echo........when it works. 

[DParker]

That sound like an issue between the Amazon and Philips cloud servers.  I'd contact Amazon support the next time it happens.

[jeffmikers]

That sound like an issue between the Amazon and Philips cloud servers.  I'd contact Amazon support the next time it happens.

So my knee jerk reaction to reading this was "no way". Alexa has a local IP on my LAN. Hue has a local IP on my LAN. What does the Internet have to do with a local subnet connection?

Proof of concept: I disabled Internet access and left the LAN active. I issued the verbal command to Alexa to turn off a light. Alexa spun for a minute and then came back with "Sorry. I'm having trouble connecting."

That being said, other skills/functions on Alexa work when she loses connection with my Hue bulbs. So, I'm still not convinced that a connection to an external server is why I periodically can't control my bulbs.

[renegade600]

That sound like an issue between the Amazon and Philips cloud servers.  I'd contact Amazon support the next time it happens.

So my knee jerk reaction to reading this was "no way". Alexa has a local IP on my LAN. Hue has a local IP on my LAN. What does the Internet have to do with a local subnet connection?

Proof of concept: I disabled Internet access and left the LAN active. I issued the verbal command to Alexa to turn off a light. Alexa spun for a minute and then came back with "Sorry. I'm having trouble connecting."

That being said, other skills/functions on Alexa work when she loses connection with my Hue bulbs. So, I'm still not convinced that a connection to an external server is why I periodically can't control my bulbs.

all bulbs and switches will only work through the echo when you have internet access.   so when you gave the verbal command to alexa to turn off the light, it done exactly what it was supposed to. 

[DParker]

So my knee jerk reaction to reading this was "no way". Alexa has a local IP on my LAN. Hue has a local IP on my LAN. What does the Internet have to do with a local subnet connection?

You're making the assumption that just because these devices are on the same LAN, even the same subnet, they must be communicating directly with one another.  That would be an incorrect assumption, as evidenced by the following:

Proof of concept: I disabled Internet access and left the LAN active. I issued the verbal command to Alexa to turn off a light. Alexa spun for a minute and then came back with "Sorry. I'm having trouble connecting."

Right...because your Echo can't do squat without a connection to Amazon's servers.  I'm not sure what concept you were attempting to prove with this test.

That being said, other skills/functions on Alexa work when she loses connection with my Hue bulbs. So, I'm still not convinced that a connection to an external server is why I periodically can't control my bulbs.

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning here.  Alexa's integrations with "smart home" systems are cloud-based, just like its integrations with other types of systems/services are, but Alexa works with each of them via different vendor-proprietary interfaces.  So why would you conclude that proper functioning of those other integrations is evidence that there's not a problem with the Alexa <-> Hue cloud interface?

[jeffmikers]

The concept I was proving (for my own knowledge) was whether or not Echo requires Internet. Prior to that short experiment, I was under the impression that once setup it could communicate with local devices when the Internet is unavailable. Thank you for pointing out my incorrect assumption.

I came to the conclusion that it was specific to the Echo/Hue integration, because other skills continue to function and while Internet remains stable.

Based on the fact that you have nearly 600 posts, your tenure on this forum, and your responses this sounds like you haven't seen this and I may be an anomaly. Opening a support case with Amazon is an option, but I was hoping a nugget of useful information might come my way if I tossed my scenario out for comment.

[renegade600]

The concept I was proving (for my own knowledge) was whether or not Echo requires Internet. Prior to that short experiment, I was under the impression that once setup it could communicate with local devices when the Internet is unavailable. Thank you for pointing out my incorrect assumption.

I came to the conclusion that it was specific to the Echo/Hue integration, because other skills continue to function and while Internet remains stable.

Based on the fact that you have nearly 600 posts, your tenure on this forum, and your responses this sounds like you haven't seen this and I may be an anomaly. Opening a support case with Amazon is an option, but I was hoping a nugget of useful information might come my way if I tossed my scenario out for comment.

on this point you still are mistakent.  if you go through his nearly 600 posts, you will find the question has been asked and answered many times, though most can ask the same question in ten words or less  :-)

[jeffmikers]

The concept I was proving (for my own knowledge) was whether or not Echo requires Internet. Prior to that short experiment, I was under the impression that once setup it could communicate with local devices when the Internet is unavailable. Thank you for pointing out my incorrect assumption.

I came to the conclusion that it was specific to the Echo/Hue integration, because other skills continue to function and while Internet remains stable.

Based on the fact that you have nearly 600 posts, your tenure on this forum, and your responses this sounds like you haven't seen this and I may be an anomaly. Opening a support case with Amazon is an option, but I was hoping a nugget of useful information might come my way if I tossed my scenario out for comment.

on this point you still are mistakent.  if you go through his nearly 600 posts, you will find the question has been asked and answered many times, though most can ask the same question in ten words or less  :-)

Brah. If the answer was already posted a friendly "Hey! Welcome to the forums, glad to have you. This has actually already been covered in another post <insert_URL_here>" would have sufficed.

I'm going to bow out of this now, because its obvious it is headed in a retarded direction. Thanks for the inviting welcome guys. Oh and thanks for editing your post, btw. Wouldn't want the audience to know "on this point you still don't know what you are talking about."

Later guys. <unsubscribe>